Lt. Johnson at Neighborhood Watch

We always enjoy when Lt. Duane Johnson, night shift commander at District 1, visits Regency Cove to speak at our Neighborhood Watch and Safety Meeting, which occurred tonight at 7 pm.

He spoke briefly about the incident that occurred about a month ago when several trespassers were arrested in the park. Trespass Affadavits have been issued, so if these violators ever show up again, the police can haul them away.


Lt. Johnson reminded everyone to lock up their bikes every night. Chet Hindman reported earlier that since the north boundary fence has been installed, no bike thefts have occurred. Apparently the high solid fence has foiled the thieves, for the moment. Chet has been issuing cable locks to those who register their bikes.


Lt. Johnson warned everyone to lock up the frame, not just the tire, because people have found their bikes stolen and all that is left is the tire and the lock. These kids, he reported, will trade off the tires, frames, and other parts of our bikes the minute they make it into their neighborhoods, making our bikes indistinguishable.

When asked, Lt. Johnson said that his officers do enter the park periodically for patrols, and he has done it himself.

The official police recommendations are:

• Do not confront anyone. Call the police to report a suspicious person.


• If you see someone suspicious in the park, call the non-emergency police number 231-6130. Describe as much as possible what you saw regarding clothing, size, hair. Very often the police will pick up the offenders outside of the park, walking down the neighborhood streets.


• In an emergency, call 9-1-1. If you don't know if its an emergency, call 9-1-1 and let the operator decide.


• If you hear a helicopter circling overhead: First: Lock all doors. Lock your car, if you can, from inside your home. Next: turn on all outside lights. If you hear any unusual noises on your property, call the police. Many times, offenders are caught when citizens report that they have heard noises coming from their sheds. Lt. Johnson said that many bad guys will hide in spaces about the size of large cat, for up to 6 hours, to avoid capture.

The final topic of the evening was "mandatory hurricane evacuation". In the event of a Governor issued mandatory evacuation, everyone must go. The local police will come into the park, and literally carry people away. They are ordered to knock on every door and remove every citizen to safety. We can only hope that the residents of Regency Cove will comply, and maybe leave a sign in the front door that says "Evacuated to family in ...." or "Evacuated to ...... Hotel".

It was a great meeting. Too bad more people weren't present.